The demise of TV

Whatever happened to intellectual entertainment? The days in which stations like the History Network and A&E were around to play documentaries on the pyramids and Stonehenge that were narrated by English accented intellectuals and exclusive viewings of pretentious-arty-film-festival movies. The days when you knew if you put those channels on, by the time the program you were watching finished, you most likely learned something (or at least had the chance to).

In fact, when I was in the 8th grade I impressed my teacher in a history lesson when I announced to the class that the Anglican religion was created by an English King (Henry VIII) who wanted to get divorced. When he asked where I learned that, I told him I watched it on TV with my mom.

Nowadays when you put these channels on, instead of being enlightened and informed, you’re now drowning in classless reality TV like Storage Wars, American Pickers, and Pawn Stars. And instead of learning something (or having the potential to) your IQ is lowering with every minute spent watching these shows. What’s that all about?

I will admit that these shows can be ‘mildly’ entertaining, HOWEVER, do these shows deserve a place on the premium channels that are supposed to be educating the public? NO. Do they deserve to be on a channel that is supposed to be about history or the arts? NO. Do they deserve to be on a channel that you pay extra to have? Absolutely not! Yes, at some point during these programs they may find something that has historic value, but for the most part, that’s not what that programming is about. It’s about the drama associated with bidding and bartering, it’s about getting a deal and it’s about people making money.

Programs like Storage Wars belong on a station like Spike. A station in which enrichment does not matter. A station that prides itself on cleavage and manliness. Plus, it’s already a home to the best wars that ever existed – Star Wars.